Sorry it has been awhile since I last posted. These past few months have been one heck of a roller coaster ride. It seems that every major life event needs to be accompanied with joy and loss all at the same time. I have been struggling to wrap my head around the loss of my mom, and also be filled with happiness for the birth of my very first baby, my sweet little Kolton. There are no words that can accurately describe the absolute thrill and pain that courses through me on a daily basis.
Anyway, I wanted to make sure I got my birth story posted before I start forgetting little details.
...
At my last appointment on May 15 my Dr. made the decision to schedule an induction. I was still completely convinced that Kolton would come on his own on his due date... May 17.. unfortunately that day came and went without any sign of baby. I kept wishing and wishing and walking and walking, eating spicy food etc, to coax him out. Nothing worked. Kolton decided he was perfectly happy where he was. So on the morning of the 21st (like, super early morning... 5am) we headed to the hospital to be induced. It was super quiet, still dark... no cars on the road, I remember thinking that our lives were going to change, yet it still didn't seem real. We didn't even know where we were supposed to go, since I had never gotten around to doing the hospital tour. After, going to the wrong place first, we finally ended up at the labor & delivery floor and got signed in.
We got into our room, room 2(I will always remember that because 2 is my favorite number) the room was really big, I set my moms picture frame up and we sat there for what felt like forever. Finally the nurses came in and started telling me what to do and got me set up in bed. By 7am they started the Pitocin. I started out the morning, 2cm and 85% effaced. After breaking my water, they determined that Kolton had a bowel movement, which meant that they were going to have NICU nurses on standby for when he was born. They warned Keith at this time that he may not end up getting to cut the cord, but would try to let him do it.
Obviously, this being my first baby I had no idea what to expect pain wise, so I was completely undecided as to whether or not I wanted an epidural, they sent in the anesthesiologist to talk to me so I would know more information about the epidural so I could make a better decision (code for, my Dr didn't think I would be able to handle labor pain and didn't want me to be scared of the epidural) I went the first couple hours just fine, handling the contractions perfectly fine.
Of course, that did not last very long.. they came in around 9, maybe 10am and upped my Pitocin, the contractions very quickly became way more painful. I was able to tolerate them at that point but was terrified they would get worse, and I wouldn't be able to sit still for an epidural, so I made the decision to face my fear of the epi and get it. Thankfully there was only one person in line in front of me, and I was given the epidural fairly quickly. It actually was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be..... BUT,
for some reason it only worked on my left side :( the nurses turned me on to my right side, hoping the medicine would "gravitate" to that side.. it didn't work, I ended up in tears because the contractions were coming way more frequent and were incredibly painful. They brought the anesthesiologist back in and he messed around with the epidural and told me that it shouldn't be long and I wouldn't be able to feel the pain anymore.. the pain dulled... but I could STILL feel my right side.. he came back in and just upped my dosage.. I finally had relief and I knocked out.
When I woke up ( I have no idea what time is was) I couldn't move my legs at all.. which completely freaked me out. I sent Keith out for the nurse and she assured me all was fine... seriously scary not being able to feel your legs! The rest of the afternoon was completely uneventful. A brief visit by my dad, but otherwise, Keith and I just slept.
At 5pm my Dr came in and checked me, I was 7.5cm and 90% effaced. She went ahead and said she was staying an extra hour hoping that things would progress quickly from there so that she could be the one to deliver Kolton. At 6pm there was barely any change, and they had me do some practice pushes, my Dr then made the decision to go home, saying that it looked like it could still be awhile.
Naturally, right after she left, the on-call Dr came in and checked me and I had progressed, and it was time to push! It had barely been 15 minutes since my Dr had left! The Dr had to turn my epidural almost all the way off in order for me to push effectively, which SUCKED, because I was able to feel pretty much everything on my right side. But I kept pushing!
After about an hour and a half, I was completely exhausted, the nurses had had a shift change, I was put on oxygen because I could no longer breathe(stupid flipping asthma!) Was wondering if this was really happening, I even remember thinking how on earth is he not here yet? Even though to me it didn't seem like very long... but the Dr. started talking about C-section, she was worried he might be bigger than we thought.. hearing the word c-section pretty much kept me going.. I told them I had this.. I could do it.. (along with my new found air via the oxygen mask)
Not even 15 minutes later, Kolton entered the room, hand curled up to his shoulder... (thanks kid..) at 9lbs 11oz. & 22in long!! Everything happened so fast, that Keith ended up not getting to cut the cord :( but it's okay. I was in a lot of pain, and unfortunately had tore pretty bad. My epidural wasn't working anymore, and I could feel the stitches.. they kept trying to numb me even more.. pretty much, in my opinion, the part after, was worse than pushing an almost 10lb baby out!! I was incredibly weak and nearly passed out. I could barely hold Kolton, thankfully, Keith is an awesome, amazing, wonderful man, who literally took care of little man for me immediately after <3
Most of the photos below, were taken by Keith. I didn't realize that no photos were taken of Keith holding Kolton in the hospital, and none of the three of us together :'(
I was just so out of it, I guess I wasn't thinking...
Had my mama with me my whole stay........ <3 </3
My chunky monkey!!!
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3
I REALLY wish someone had been able to get a photo of Keith holding him for the first time!
Going home outfit::: He barely fit into it! It was super tight!
Going home :) :) :) :) :)
Anyway, I wanted to make sure I got my birth story posted before I start forgetting little details.
...
At my last appointment on May 15 my Dr. made the decision to schedule an induction. I was still completely convinced that Kolton would come on his own on his due date... May 17.. unfortunately that day came and went without any sign of baby. I kept wishing and wishing and walking and walking, eating spicy food etc, to coax him out. Nothing worked. Kolton decided he was perfectly happy where he was. So on the morning of the 21st (like, super early morning... 5am) we headed to the hospital to be induced. It was super quiet, still dark... no cars on the road, I remember thinking that our lives were going to change, yet it still didn't seem real. We didn't even know where we were supposed to go, since I had never gotten around to doing the hospital tour. After, going to the wrong place first, we finally ended up at the labor & delivery floor and got signed in.
We got into our room, room 2(I will always remember that because 2 is my favorite number) the room was really big, I set my moms picture frame up and we sat there for what felt like forever. Finally the nurses came in and started telling me what to do and got me set up in bed. By 7am they started the Pitocin. I started out the morning, 2cm and 85% effaced. After breaking my water, they determined that Kolton had a bowel movement, which meant that they were going to have NICU nurses on standby for when he was born. They warned Keith at this time that he may not end up getting to cut the cord, but would try to let him do it.
Obviously, this being my first baby I had no idea what to expect pain wise, so I was completely undecided as to whether or not I wanted an epidural, they sent in the anesthesiologist to talk to me so I would know more information about the epidural so I could make a better decision (code for, my Dr didn't think I would be able to handle labor pain and didn't want me to be scared of the epidural) I went the first couple hours just fine, handling the contractions perfectly fine.
Of course, that did not last very long.. they came in around 9, maybe 10am and upped my Pitocin, the contractions very quickly became way more painful. I was able to tolerate them at that point but was terrified they would get worse, and I wouldn't be able to sit still for an epidural, so I made the decision to face my fear of the epi and get it. Thankfully there was only one person in line in front of me, and I was given the epidural fairly quickly. It actually was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be..... BUT,
for some reason it only worked on my left side :( the nurses turned me on to my right side, hoping the medicine would "gravitate" to that side.. it didn't work, I ended up in tears because the contractions were coming way more frequent and were incredibly painful. They brought the anesthesiologist back in and he messed around with the epidural and told me that it shouldn't be long and I wouldn't be able to feel the pain anymore.. the pain dulled... but I could STILL feel my right side.. he came back in and just upped my dosage.. I finally had relief and I knocked out.
When I woke up ( I have no idea what time is was) I couldn't move my legs at all.. which completely freaked me out. I sent Keith out for the nurse and she assured me all was fine... seriously scary not being able to feel your legs! The rest of the afternoon was completely uneventful. A brief visit by my dad, but otherwise, Keith and I just slept.
At 5pm my Dr came in and checked me, I was 7.5cm and 90% effaced. She went ahead and said she was staying an extra hour hoping that things would progress quickly from there so that she could be the one to deliver Kolton. At 6pm there was barely any change, and they had me do some practice pushes, my Dr then made the decision to go home, saying that it looked like it could still be awhile.
Naturally, right after she left, the on-call Dr came in and checked me and I had progressed, and it was time to push! It had barely been 15 minutes since my Dr had left! The Dr had to turn my epidural almost all the way off in order for me to push effectively, which SUCKED, because I was able to feel pretty much everything on my right side. But I kept pushing!
After about an hour and a half, I was completely exhausted, the nurses had had a shift change, I was put on oxygen because I could no longer breathe(stupid flipping asthma!) Was wondering if this was really happening, I even remember thinking how on earth is he not here yet? Even though to me it didn't seem like very long... but the Dr. started talking about C-section, she was worried he might be bigger than we thought.. hearing the word c-section pretty much kept me going.. I told them I had this.. I could do it.. (along with my new found air via the oxygen mask)
Not even 15 minutes later, Kolton entered the room, hand curled up to his shoulder... (thanks kid..) at 9lbs 11oz. & 22in long!! Everything happened so fast, that Keith ended up not getting to cut the cord :( but it's okay. I was in a lot of pain, and unfortunately had tore pretty bad. My epidural wasn't working anymore, and I could feel the stitches.. they kept trying to numb me even more.. pretty much, in my opinion, the part after, was worse than pushing an almost 10lb baby out!! I was incredibly weak and nearly passed out. I could barely hold Kolton, thankfully, Keith is an awesome, amazing, wonderful man, who literally took care of little man for me immediately after <3
Most of the photos below, were taken by Keith. I didn't realize that no photos were taken of Keith holding Kolton in the hospital, and none of the three of us together :'(
I was just so out of it, I guess I wasn't thinking...
Had my mama with me my whole stay........ <3 </3
My chunky monkey!!!
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3
I REALLY wish someone had been able to get a photo of Keith holding him for the first time!
Going home outfit::: He barely fit into it! It was super tight!
Going home :) :) :) :) :)
xoxo Jamie
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